Reasons we'll be better/worse next year

[MinnMarchDTF]

Here are my reasons we'll be better/worse next year. I've also included unknowns that I think could swing either way and may turn the tide for a successful season.

BETTER:
-Large pool of returning starters. We lose a starting TE, DE, and 2 LBs from our 22 starters. Conventional wisdom suggests that seasoned teams do better than less experienced ones. Experience isn't everything in the game of football, but it does help a great deal.

-Maturation of talent. A lot of young players started to emerge last year(the most notable being Brandon Green), and that coupled with experience at key positions will pay dividends in the future. We return 3 RBs with plenty of experience (Bennett, Eskridge, Salamon). They can only improve. Another year under the belt will help Weber's development as a QB. Another year of S&G will do its part to help the OL.

-Improved stamina. This goes along with the previous point. As the players get older and more experienced, the wear of the season on them decreases. Last year one of the reasons (among others) we collapsed was due to our youth. Big Ten season is very wearing on a young team. Close losses (see NW and WI) can be difficult to be overcome with a young team and a more difficult back end to the schedule. Getting older, more experienced, and more S&C helps a great deal with these problems.

-OL improvement. This is kind of breaching the "unknowns", but I think we can safely assume the Oline will be better. They are more experienced after last year, they will be more fit due to S&G, and the addition of coach Tim Davis will help.

WORSE

-Tougher schedule- last year we missed one of the BT Champs and the 3rd place team in the conference. We get them this year and lose likely the worst BT team and what will probably be a middle team next year. That coupled with a much tougher noncon schedule bodes for more likely losses. This may be a good thing in the long run, but as it stands, this schedule is rather daunting.

-Loss of VanDeSteeg. I just don't think people realize how important the Dline is to the defense. Having a guy like Willie makes everybody else on the D look better by pressuring the QB into bad throws and helping with stopping the run. As it stands, we don't have anyone to replace his production or presence on the line.

UNKNOWNS/INTANGIBLES

-New coaches. This could go either way in terms of effect on the team's performance. I just think that whenever new coaches come in (and as we stand, we'll have 4 new ones next year), it takes some getting used to for the players. New schemes may take time to get going, so that may cost us in the beginning. In the long run, they could be good or bad, but as of now, it's tough for me to call them a strength. But that doesn't make them a weakness either.

-Stadium. I just don't think many of us realize how different it's going to be playing at home next year. Our opponents have an added enemy- mother nature. In the dome, the weather was always the same. Now when they play us, they'll have to battle the elements (and this could come in handy in the late part of the season). I think rough conditions really separate teams because it takes a lot of heart to play hard in the cold. This could be an asset, but as other BT teams also play in cold outdoors during the fall this may not be too much of an advantage.

-Brock. If coach is correct, then he'll be a strength. If not, this could be a problem. He was a good player this year, and if he returns, he should be better. But we'll have to see.

-New players. You cannot really count on any particular newcomer no matter how highly or lowly rated they are. I think this year's class is solid and likely has its share of solid contributors for next year, but who they are and where they play remains to be seen. Should be good in the future, but is unknown as of now.


So anyway, to sum it all up, we have positives and negatives and unknowns for next year (as all teams do). We can hope that the unknowns turn out to be positive, but as we stand now they could just as easily be negatives. Should be an interesting season next year to see who shines. What do you guys think?

 

[grunkiejr]

Good thoughts. I'll just add a few of my own thoughts.

The addition of Carufel (coaches said he was the best lineman in practice last year) at RG and Wills at RT (if nothing else it is more competition, but they didn't recruit him to be a back up) should help the line. If we're adding two new starters and the ten players in last year's two deep are competing for 3 starting spots that is bound to make the line more talented.

We don't know how good he will be but I view the addition of Hayo Carpenter a little differently that the addtion of all of the freshman. Hayo has shown for two years that he can physically compete with college athletes so he should be ready to step in and compete whereas I think it is dangerous to pencil in freshman to contribute.

We will also have much greater competition in practice which should push starters a little harder. We add Maresh to likely back up Campbell and it should push him to get better. We add Carter at CB and he'll likely either push Collado for Nickel back or he'll push Sherels for a starting CB position. We add Gray and Alipate which could help push Weber to work harder. The WR corp is the deepest I have ever seen at Minnesota and that will push everybody to work harder to get on the field. And our running backs certainly don't compare to what we had in 2002-2004 but we will have greater depth there than last year which should force players to work their tail off everyday in practice. Competition in practice is important for developing talented players and having a guy like Gray or Alipate running the scout team is going to make the entire secondary get that much better of a look in preparation.

Talent wise I think we'll be better and we'll continue to get better in the future but football is a game of talent & execution and we have to see what the coaches bring to the table.

 

[Maverick]

I would also add that we add Royston to the secondary. I expect him to be a mjor contributor on the two-deep

I think the d-line will be our achilles heel next year. We desperately need many players to step up....

Regards to the stadium, many of our opponents will lose their "homefield" advantage the dome gave them...Wisconsin, Iowa and NDSU in particular. I know we don't play Iowa and NDSU at TCF next year, but 2010 we do... In addition, I think the Gophers will see and appreciate a "homefield" adavantage or 12th man that only rarely happend at the dome...most recently Michigan 2003 game. That was electric and the end sucked, but for most of that game, it was a "true homefield advantage"!!!

 

[KD6-3.7]

look at the improvement we made from 2007 to 2008. if we make the same leap in 2009 (which i have no reason to believe that we shouldn't) we should end up in another nice bowl game with a real chance of victory.

 

[grunkiejr]

I would also add that we add Royston to the secondary. I expect him to be a mjor contributor on the two-deep

I think the d-line will be our achilles heel next year. We desperatly need many players to step up....

I think regardless of whether Brock comes back Royston will be starting at safety. It is just a matter or whether it is Brock/Royston or Royston/Theret. If you haven't seen pictures of him lately he looks like a Greek God (look up Sportsfan24's avatar).

The interior of the d-line is the same as we had last year so with another year of strength & conditioning it should be better than last year. So we should be better against the run. I don't think Willie Van De Steeg's impact can be replaced but I think Cedric McKinley will be a pleasant surprise to everybody next season. He picked up two sacks in the bowl game and Brewster said the light seemed to go on for him during the bowl practices. Hopefully the light stays on for spring practice and he is an impact player next fall. Unfortunately, we'll be having the same conversation in 2010 because we have a lot of seniors on the DL this next season.

 

[Monty519]

I agree grunkie that competition in practice will only make this team better. Practice suddenly takes on a more of a heightened tempo, players are realizing that the guy behind him is talented enough to maybe challenge their spot, so suddenly they make that extra effort in practice, and that will carry over into games as well. This is why you want to load on talent. Not everyone is gonna get on the field, so fighting for one of those 22 spots on the field makes everyone better when it's a real battle out there. As has been noted previously, the depth of talent just hasn't been there the last few years, and it still isn't there enough now. But it's starting to get on the uptick, and once Brew gets a 4th class in here, we should be ready to go places.

 

[Nervous Gopher]

re

How can the new "coaches" be considered a possible positive? We just used that as a partial excuse for a 1-11 season and many are saying the new HC needs five years. By saying a large influx of new coachs this year can turn out to be a positive is having it both ways.

 

[Monty519]

How can the new "coaches" be considered a possible positive? We just used that as a partial excuse for a 1-11 season and many are saying the new HC needs five years. By saying a large influx of new coachs this year can turn out to be a positive is having it both ways.

Who said that was a strength? He called it an unknown. And if you get coaches that end up being great, I would consider that a positive. But if they suck, then it's a negative. Hence why it's an "unknown", because you don't know until you see it all in action in front of you.

 

[Maverick]

How can the new "coaches" be considered a possible positive? We just used that as a partial excuse for a 1-11 season and many are saying the new HC needs five years. By saying a large influx of new coachs this year can turn out to be a positive is having it both ways.

Well.... Did "New coach Roof" turn into a positive last year?????

He only said it could be... and I agree....it could be....

 

[lawrence21]

WOW

What great football minds. You people should be coaches or at the very least sports commentators, or guys who just sit around posting their thoughts on a web site trying to show they know football because they never had any real "game"

 

[WAGopher]

The wide receivers is the unit I'm expecting the most improvement from. They are a talented group with varying size and speed and that can be used in both common sets and specific situations. Of course the key will be enough improvement in the offensive line to allow the extra second or two it takes for the receivers to execute their routes.

 

[eker0016]

I agree you can't count on freshmen to contribute anything. Two examples:

Clint Brewster: The Star Trib had pictures of Mortenson, Weber and Brewster all in the same throwing motion, comparing their physical physiques. Clint Brewster looked like a chubby 8th grader standing next to an All-American -- it was clear he wasn't ready to physically contribute. He needed time in the weight room and the playbook to contribute.

Keanon Cooper: I was very excited about his commitment last year. Some people were penciling him in at a starting safety position. He ended up redshirting.

 

[DiehardGopher]

New stadium. Everything else is gravy.

 

[Golden Elephant]

I agree you can't count on freshmen to contribute anything. Two examples:

Clint Brewster: The Star Trib had pictures of Mortenson, Weber and Brewster all in the same throwing motion, comparing their physical physiques. Clint Brewster looked like a chubby 8th grader standing next to an All-American -- it was clear he wasn't ready to physically contribute. He needed time in the weight room and the playbook to contribute.

Keanon Cooper: I was very excited about his commitment last year. Some people were penciling him in at a starting safety position. He ended up redshirting.

And on the flip side, you have guys like Stoudemire and Shady Saloman making contributions where people didn't really expect much out of them. And Simoni Lawrence, while a JUCO guy, wasn't a heralded recruit. So maybe there will be some pleasant surprises.

Something we haven't thrown into the mix yet is the kicking game. At punter, we've got a true frosh coming in. At kicker, we have a guy (Ellestad) who wasn't good enough to beat out two shaky guys the last 2 years and we have a redshirt Freshman walk-on (Schwerman). Kicker especially is a major concern for me, and you can easily lose a game or 2 or 3 because of missed FGs, PATs, etc.

 

[denguegopher]

I don't think Willie Van De Steeg's impact can be replaced but I think Cedric McKinley will be a pleasant surprise to everybody next season. He picked up two sacks in the bowl game and Brewster said the light seemed to go on for him during the bowl practices. Hopefully the light stays on for spring practice and he is an impact player next fall. .

I will agree about McKinley. I noticed that he moves very well and he is physically impressive. His body type reminded those of many pro linebackers (or all of Southern Cal's - no wonder they win all the time).

 

[FiveStarFan]

We will be a better team and compete better, but we will have the same or worse record than this year due to our schedule. Which some people will call a bad year. I feel if we win 7+ games next year I will give Brew an A+. I'm really hoping we just improve the product on the field. Yes I want wins but they will come with good play.